Bank of America selects Patrick O'Neil as Savannah market president

Bank of America has promoted Savannah native Patrick O'Neil to market president for Savannah and the tri-county area.

O'Neil, 35, is an alumnus of Benedictine Military School and Armstrong Atlantic University, where he received a degree in economics.

In 11 years at Bank of America, O'Neil has risen from personal banker to his new position with an emphasis, he says, on helping businesses, large and small, grow and make their bottom line.

Bank of America begins 2014 with a strong balance sheet, posting a quarterly profit of $3.4 billion, or 29 cents a share, exceeding the 26 cents a share Wall Street had anticipated. With its consumer banking and wealth management divisions posting strong numbers, the bank is steadily overcoming the impacts of the financial crisis.

However, challenges remain as its mortgage business shrinks with interest rates creeping up and fewer people refinancing their home loans - and legal troubles left over from risky mortgages it took on in 2008 still loom.

O'Neil spoke with Savannah Morning News about his experience at Bank of America and its role in the community.

Q: Tell me a little about your background. You are a Savannah native, correct? What made you choose banking?

A: "I was born and raised in Savannah, grew up going to Saint James Elementary, and I'm a Benedictine cadet, finished there in '97 and went to Armstrong. I finished Armstrong in three and a half years and immediately became a banker.

" ... I knew in sixth grade I wanted to be a banker. My dad was a banker at SunTrust. He retired in 2008 and had always been with the company. I knew at a very early age that I definitely wanted to be a banker."

Q: Your bio says you joined Bank of America 11 years ago as a personal banker and now you're market president. Describe your banking experience and relatively speedy trajectory?

A: "When I came into the bank, throughout the interview process, I told people I wanted to work for one company - I wanted to build something, and I wanted to start from the bottom. And so I did,

"I started in a retail bank, which isn't technically the bottom, but it's entry level and I wanted to learn a lot about the bank and how we operated. I've always been focused on learning. It's not about knowing everything, it's about learning everything."

Q: What did you do in your first job at Bank of America?

A: "I was a personal banker in Rincon, Ga., so I handled the retail channel, opening up personal accounts, debit card/credit card reorders. Back then, online banking was becoming a hot thing, so online ID access and that kind of stuff."

Q: How big is BOA's footprint in Savannah?

A: "We have multiple locations. The market president role covers not only Savannah but Pooler, Rincon, Savannah and further south into Bryan County - and we have locations across the board."

Q: Big banks such as BOA are moving more toward mobile banking and e-banking, including remote deposits, how is that going to affect local Savannah branches and staffing levels?

A: "Overall, from what I've seen, there shouldn't be a massive change - there won't be this massive shift. We're not a metro market, and so locally, from what we've been told, there shouldn't be a massive migration of employees one way or the other.

"But we do have test markets going on that test the reaction of our clients and so forth. As those tests are being done, we're eager to see what that feedback is."

Q: Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan has previously announced plans to reduce the size of the bank, saving BoA $8 billion a year by 2015, how does that play out locally?

A: "You have to think about the different banks. I think a lot of those changes are probably more metro market than community. I've been here for 11 years and as a taxpayer, as someone who's very vested in this market as a long-term resident, I have not heard anything that would scare me."

Q: Citigroup and Bank of America bore the brunt of criticism during the housing-mortage crisis, especially its Countrywide mortgage branch, how did Savannah fare during this period? And are you still dealing with the fallout from some of these risky mortgages?

A: "Obviously, we struggled - everybody struggled - but I think Savannah is a very resilient economy. I think that things are looking better because of our diverse economy. As Savannah has morphed from a small city to bigger market, I think that's one thing we have to be prideful of, is our different income streams."

Q: How much local decision making do you have for consumer loans, business loans and mortgage loans? If someone comes into the main branch seeking a business loan, do some decisions go through Charlotte or are those decisions made here?

A: "It's another tough question to answer because it all depends on what the request is. I think there's a difference between is the decision local or is the decision quick. …I think it's more important to understand what the need of the client is. Is it a very quick decision, does the decision need to be local, does the decision need to be the right decision? It may not be exactly what the client wants. …Any time we're focused on the process more than the solution and being proactive and making the right guidance, we tend to go down the wrong path. It's about the banker understanding the business and what needs to happen and how to be proactive with that relationship."

Q: As a Savannahian, do you want to expand BoA's community involvement?

A: "Two of my passions around Bank of America and this community are mentoring young employees to be active in the community and to be committed to Bank of America for the long term, and second of all is for Bank of America employees to be committed to the community and increase volunteer hours. That's something our CEO Brian Moynihan focuses on.

"For me to go home and feel like I was successful is to know that our bank is participating in the community. Volunteer-wise and socially and economically, we have a large burden to bear because we're a large bank in a small market, and we should use that to our benefit.

"I know my bio contains a lot of volunteering and a lot of my employees volunteer in the community. We should be proud of that. We shouldn't run away from that, and we need to vocalize that in the community."

Q: You have an Irish name and you serve on the St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee, is it safe to say you have some Irish ancestry?

A: "Just a little bit. We like to enjoy our heritage, and it doesn't hurt being in Savannah and having Irish heritage. Being part of BC and walking the parade, that was always a good experience."